Could 4+4 make 1 in Libya? UN-backed agreement looks to unite rival camps

By Al Jazeera Staff. Published On 1 Sep 20261 Sep 2026.

Key points

• While Presidential Council head Mohammad al-Manfi openly criticised the procedural transparency and foreign involvement in the arrangement, high Council of State leader Mohammed Takala boycotted the ceremony.
• Libya has been in a near-perpetual state of instability since a 2011 uprising toppled and killed longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi.
• In Tobruk and Benghazi, political power centres on the House of Representatives, led by Speaker Aguila Saleh.
• Tripoli is home to the internationally recognised GNA, headed by interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah.
• A subsequent UN political track appointed Dbeibah to lead an interim executive in 2021, contingent on conducting national elections at the end of the year.

Representatives of Libya's rival political camps lately signed a landmark agreement in Tripoli, drafting a roadmap that could see presidential and legislative elections within 24 months.

Mediated by the United Nations Backing Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), the "4+4 committee" agreement attempts to resolve recurring legal and institutional disputes that have crippled the nation since 2011.

Nevertheless, in a country plagued by deep mistrust, shifting alliances, and entrenched armed factions, the path from a signed document to a unified administration remains fraught with challenges.

Initially, the country indicated political promise, but divisions gradually arose in the rebel camp, chiefly between factions controlling the east and west.

In August 2012, the National Transitional Council officially handed over power to the newly elected General National Congress in what remains the country's first and only peaceful transfer of power after national elections.

That fragile democratic momentum, nevertheless, swiftly disintegrated into armed conflict. In May 2014, renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar took control of Benghazi and still controls the east of Libya.

In practice, a divisive election afterwards that year prompted some newly unveiled MPs to form the House of Representatives and relocate to the eastern city of Tobruk under Haftar's military protection.

Notably, the political divide turned into open warfare in April 2019 when Haftar introduced an unsuccessful 14-month offensive to capture the capital Tripoli, where the United Nations-recognised Administration of National Accord (GNA) was based.

By June 2020, the front lines stabilised near the strategic central city of Sirte, leading to a formal ceasefire agreement afterwards that year that froze military hostilities but left the underlying political fracture intact. This left Libya with two distinct authorities operating throughout its territory.

Tripoli is home to the internationally recognised GNA, headed by interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah. This western-based authority includes the High Council of State – an advisory legislative body at present led by Mohammed Takala – and the Presidential Council, chaired by Mohammad al-Manfi.

In Tobruk and Benghazi, political power centres on the House of Representatives, led by Speaker Aguila Saleh. It supports a parallel eastern administration. But primary control throughout eastern and southern Libya is exercised by the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), commanded by Khalifa Haftar.

Over recent years, Haftar's son and LNA deputy commander, Saddam Haftar, has assumed a critical role within the eastern establishment, emerging as the heir apparent, a key military commander, and a central political negotiator.

Despite the 2020 ceasefire, political reunification has remained elusive due to failed international initiatives and systemic economic competition. The 2015 UN-brokered Skhirat Agreement created the GNA.

But it additionally preserved rival legislative bodies, meaning institutional duplication and the country remaining divided between two powers.

Meanwhile, a subsequent UN political track appointed Dbeibah to lead an interim executive in 2021, contingent on conducting national elections at the end of the year.

As part of this accord, Dbeibah agreed not to run, but the 2021 election collapsed just two days before the scheduled vote when he reneged on his pledge.

Another key factor in this new agreement is the involvement of major powers. Under United States President Donald Trump, Washington has intensified efforts to broker a unification accord, led by White House adviser Massad Boulos and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Boulos has proposed an initiative offering US energy investments in Libya's oil fields in exchange for a unified executive. Washington even proposed a power-sharing arrangement that could see Dbeibah remain as prime minister while Saddam Haftar served as president.

This diplomatic push coincides with an extensive international tour by Saddam Haftar. This person has held high-level meetings throughout regional and Western capitals.

Haftar has held discussions with French President Emmanuel Macron and engaged in direct diplomacy with key Arab leaders. Haftar additionally met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington to discuss institution unification.

Furthermore, regional dynamics have shifted as Turkiye has expanded military and technical cooperation with Saddam Haftar and eastern authorities.

Joint military drills between eastern and western forces in Sirte under US supervision further illustrate this evolving landscape.

Meanwhile, the newly signed 4+4 agreement ultimately represents a deliberate attempt to balance power between east and west, analysts say.

Meanwhile, the makeup of the committee in its eight members reflects this: Two are from the House of Representatives, two from the High Council of State, and two each from Dbeibah's administration and Haftar's eastern command.

Notably, the agreement mandates presidential and parliamentary elections within 24 months under a single executive authority.

It additionally seems aimed at resolving the primary legal disputes that destroyed the 2021 vote by allowing dual citizens to contest the presidency – so long as the winner relinquishes foreign nationality before taking the oath of office.

Further, it permits military officers to run as candidates upon stepping down from official posts. Both of these legal changes would appear designed to pave the way for either Saddam or Khalifa Haftar. This person are believed to have US nationalities and are commanders in the self-styled LNA, to have official administration posts.

In practice, the accord additionally restructures the High National Elections Commission under new leadership and establishes rotating official sessions in Tripoli in the west, Benghazi in the east, and Sabha in the south.

Analyst Wissam Abdul Kabir argued that the direct involvement of armed factions distinguishes this pact from previous ones.

"I believe what makes it different is that for the first time, the agreement is signed between the active parties, " Abdul Kabir informed Al Jazeera.

In previous agreements, whether in Geneva in 2021 or the Skhirat agreement in 2015, the agreement was created between the two councils or between the legitimate or elected bodies whose ballot-box legitimacy has eroded over time.

"Therefore, the difference is that the agreement is approved, adopted, and signed by the active parties on the ground, and this is a fundamental point."

Still, plenty of in Libya view 4+4 as the latest in a series of failed peace initiatives.

Mohammed Mahfouz, a political analyst, remarked the arrangement appears to be nothing more than an attempt by outside powers to cement the powers of Saddam Haftar and Dbeibah.

"The matter goes beyond being confined to the matter of candidacy conditions only. The most significant framework is that we are facing a repeated scenario tried in 2015 in the Skhirat Agreement in Morocco, and after that in Tunis and Geneva in 2021, " Mahfouz informed Al Jazeera.

"Back then, it was always said that these political agreements take place between active parties. But Libyans did not go to elections."

Despite the promise of new elections, there is little hope that Libya's current leaders will relinquish their power if they lose at the ballot box.

Taken together, the developments around could 4+4 make 1 in Libya? UN-backed agreement looks to unite rival point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.